Aeroplane.



A. S. GREENAMYER & A. HALLETT.

AEROPLANE.

APPLICATION FILED A G. 15, 1910.

. r 1 mm Zm 5 w mm fi to. #4 m WW A. S. GREENAMYER & A. HALLETT.

AEROPLANE.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 15, 1010.

Patented Nov. 7, 1911.

2 SHEBTSSHEET 2.

STAT

PATENT OFFICE;

ARTHUR s. GREENAMYEB mp ALFRED or nos ANGELES, cann onma.

.AEROPLANE.

Specification of Letters Iatent.

Application filed August 15, 191a Serial No. 577,309.-

To all whom it may comm; I Be it known that we, THUR S. GREEN- AMYER and ALFRED HAim'rr, both citizens of the United States, residing at Los An-* geles, in the county of Los Angeles and State of California, have invented a new and useful Aeroplane, of which the following is a eral stability in an automatic manner with-- out requiring the attention ofthe operator or the operation of moving parts.. All such operations require an appreciable time, and

an advantage of the construction hereinafter described is that it provides means tending to restore the machine to horizontal position by forces brought into action immediately upon the occurrence of any lateral tilting. This we accomplish by providing aeroplane surfaces of such character that upon lateral tilting thereof the surfaces are presented in such manneras to produce a greater upward pressure on the lower-4' end,

of the machine, thustending to right the machine.

Another object of the invention is toprovide improved driving means for operating the aeroplane, such means providing for vertical aswell as longitudinal effect. I Other objects of the invention will appear hereinafter.

invention, and referring thereto :'-Figure 1 is .a perspective of-the machine. Fig. 2 is a side view of the platform-with the driving mechanism thereon. Fig. 3 is a front view of the machine. 1 I v The machine comprises upper and lower aeroplane members 1 and 2 on each side of the machine, each of said members comprising a frame having a rectangular end portion with end bars 3 and side bars 4, said side bars being bent downwardly at the mid-- ofthe lower frame with the inner and outer ends of the upper frame. The inner end Patented Nov; 7, 191 1 portion 7 of the lower aeroplane frame, ex-

tendsdownwardly to a similar distance, so

that the distanpe between the upper -and lower aeroplanesremains'approximately 0on stant and the inner'ends-of the said downwardly bent portions 7 are connected to and support the platform 8. The motor, driv- 6 ing; gear, and other heavy parts are supported on said platform, so that the center of gravity is below the level of the lower aeroplane member 2,.this' being an essential requisitein connection with the means for lateral stability, as hereinafter described, saidmeans comprisin the downwardcurvature of the inner on s of the aeroplanes, as above set forth.

The above describedaeroplane members" 1 I and 2 arefurther braced and supported b cross members 10 extending fore and a t between the side bars 4; of their frames. 7

Framemeans are provided extending fore and aft of the aeroplanes for supporting; the tively, said frame means comprising longihorizontal and vertical rudder means respectudinal bars 13 secured to the cross bars'5,

struts 15 extending from the front and rear ends, of the said longitudinal bars to the frame of the upper aeroplane, and tie rods or wires .16 extending fromsaid front andrear ends of the bars 13 to cross bars A7 of the platform 8, said thrust bars 15 being connected by horizontal bars 15' and saidtiej The accompanying'drawings illustrate the rods 16 being" connected by or continuous with rods or. wires 16, so as to form a truss in connection with the. frames of the aeroplanes. The horizontal rudder means 20 at the forwarden'd of the machine is supported by the bars. 13 aforesaid and the vertical rudder means 21 is supported on the bar's 1'3 at the rear end of the machine, said rudders 20 and 2-1 being of any usual or suitable constructio'nand operated inany usual or-su-itpresent invention. Two motors or engines 24, 25 are mounted on the platform. 8 with their shafts 26, 27'

in alinement and means are provided whereby these motors may be used conjointly or separately in operating the propeller means.

Said propeller means comprise a driving propeller 28 mounted on a horizontal shaft 29, and a lifting propeller 30 mounted on a vertical shaft 31, both of said shafts .be-

ing journaled in suitable bearings on the platform 8. A clutch 22 is provided betweenthe motor shaft 27- and the shaft 29 for the driving propeller. The shaft 31 for any usual or suitable construction, and are operated by any suitable means, for example, by levers 38, rods 39 and levers 40 op-, erated by said rods .and controlling the clutches to move them into or out of clutching relation. By throwing all of said clutches into engaging relation, both of the motors 24 and 25 are brought into driving connection with bothof the propellers 28 and 30. By disconnecting clutch 32, the propeller 30 may be thrown out of operation or by disconnecting clutch 22, the driving propeller 28 may be thrown out of operation leaving the machine under the control of the lifting propeller 30. By disconnecting clutch 36, the forward motor 24 may be used for driving the lifting propeller 30 and the rear. motor 25 may be used for driving the driving propeller 28. In case of accident to the for'ward motor, the other motor may be used for driving either or both of the. propellers, and in case the rear motor is disabled, the forward motor may still be used to drive the lifting propeller. An operators seat,'indicated at 42, is provided on the platform 8,for example, directly in front of the motors. Running wheels 43 may be provided, connected by frame means 44 to the main framing of the machine.

The operation of the aeroplane is as follows: In starting both of the propellers 28 and 30 will generally be brought into operation, the lifting propeller producing an upward pressure acting in conjunction with the pressure produced by reaction of the aeroplanes on the air in their forward motion through the air to lift the machine from the ground. After the desired height has been attained, the lifting propeller may be disconnected or it may be left in connection in case it is desired to maintain a given height with decreased forward velocity.

The control of the machine for fore and aftinclination in ascending or descending is by means of the horizontal rudder in the usual manner and the vertical rudder provides in the usual manner for horizontal steering, the dip of the center portion of the upper aeroplane being however important in this connection, as it. allows of free passage of air above the center of the machine to the rudder, thereby enabling effective .reaction of the rudder on the air. This dip or downward curve of the inner portion of the aeroplanes also provides for lateral stability in the following manner If the machine tips laterally to one side, for example, to the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3, so that the right side, looking in the direction of the operator, is tipped downwardly and the left hand side is tipped upwardly, the upward pressure of the air on the aeroplanes due to the movement through the air is greater on the downtipped side than on the up-tipped side. It

.will be understood that this pressure is due to a slight upward inclination of the aeroplanes as ajwhole in the "normal flight of the machine, so that in the motion of the aeroplanes through thea ir there is compres sion of the air beneath the planes and on the down-tipped side the air-so compressed is more or less confined between the body portionv of the aeroplanes and the downwardly curved inner portion thereof, such confinement increasing itsupward reaction on that side of the machine. 11 the other hand, the air compressed by t e aeroplane at the other side of the machine is allowed more or less escape in a'lateral direction owing to the upward tilting thereof, thereby diminishingthe upward reaction produced on the machine at that side. The'efi'ect of the stated curvature of the aeroplane members is thus to produce forces tending to restore the aeroplane to horizontal position and this eflect takes place automatically and instantaneously. without requiring the op- .eration of moving parts and without the loss of time incident to the overcoming of the inertia ofgsuch parts or for the action of the attendant or operator. r The platform 8 with the comparatively heavy parts carried thereby bein beneath the level of the lower aeroplane ember 2, it follows that the center of gravity of the machine is somewhat below the level of the said aeroplane member, this location of the center of gravity contributing to the stability of the machine as it results in a restoring force due to displacement of the center of gravity when the machine is tipped to one side. It will be noted, however, that if the planes were fiat, the effect of gravity on the machine would, in addition to such restoring force, tend to make the machine glide laterally. For example, if the machine were tipped as indicated in dotted lines. in Fig. 3, the tendency would 2 be for the machine to glide toward the right of the operator and if thetilting is very severe, this would result in dangerously rapid descent, the provision of the curved or downwardly bent portions at the inner or middle 12: .portions of the aeroplane members arrests such gliding movement as it ofiers a surface transverse to such movement, and the reaction due to the obstruction offered by such surface increases. the uplift on the Ge pressed side of the machine, and conduces to the self-righting effect.

It will be understood that the aeroplane members 1 and 2 will prefe ably be of the usual curvature, so as to' be concave-0n their lower faces, thereby presenting the most advantageous; surface for passage through the air and reaction on the air.

\Vhat we claim is:

An aeroplane comprising upper and lower aeroplane members, theouter end portions of the upper aeroplane member extending horizontally and said upper aeroplanemember being bent down\\-'ardly at its middle portion to substantially the level of the outer ends of the lower aeroplane member and the lower aeroplane member extending horizontally at its outer portions and parallel to the upper aeroplane member and having portions extending downwardly and ends to the middle providing a passage of.

uniform width transversely nally of the machine.

In testimony whereof, we have hereunto set our hands at Los Angeles, California, this (3th (la of August, 1910.

ARTHUR S. GREENAMYER. A LFR El) llA LLETJ.

and longitudi- In presence of ARTHUR I KNloirr, FRANK L. A. GRl-XILUL 

